Story Behind the Song: Jason Isbell, ‘If We Were Vampires’

Jason Isbell's "If We Were Vampires" is one of his most critically acclaimed tracks, but it never would have been written without the help of Isbell's wife, fellow Americana artist Amanda Shires. Read on to learn more about how the song was written, and how Isbell realized it was a special song that would resonate with many of his fans.

I was watching Hoarders -- it didn't inspire the song, but I'll get around to the song. So I was watching Hoarders, and Amanda came in, and said, "You're going into the studio on Monday. You need to stop watching Hoarders and write."

And I said, "I don't want to. I've got enough songs." And she said, "No, you have to. Anybody can watch Hoarders, but you have a record to make."

So I turned off the Hoarders and started writing, and that is the song I wrote.

And I'm really grateful to her for lighting the fire under my a-- and making me work that day, because that song turned out to be pretty special to a lot of people. It was even really moving for me, the first few times I tried to play it for [Shires]. In fact, at first, I couldn't even get through it; I had to turn around and leave the room and come back in and try again. That's when I knew it could be a really special song to a lot of people.